I was out and about in the city today, first picking up some pictures from our framer’s, then picking up a suit from Tom’s place in Kensington Market, after which I walked down to Yumart at 101 Spadina (for readers not from around here, I’m in Toronto) for the opening of an exhibition by Tim Deverell, featuring works from 2000 to 2010.

I like Tim’s work very much – I’ve been familiar with his paintings for many years, and in fact we’ve hung one of his small pieces in our home for several years.  It was a treat to see a significant grouping of his paintings today. The show is at Yumart, a gallery space at 101 Spadina up on the 2nd floor. Yumart is operated by Yvonne Whelen, also a painter, whose work may be familiar to art lovers in Toronto.

When you look at one of Tim’s paintings or drawings, first impressions are deceptive. You see the piece one way, and then you catch a glimpse of detail that draws you in, and suddenly the picture has drawn you very close and you’re picking out details, and as you start to see more and more going on, your perception of the picture changes back and forth from micro to macro. Some of his pictures look very simple a first glance but reveal themselves to be so complex and detailed it isn’t possible to take in nearly everything going on in them at once. Tim Deverell makes work that has a quiet presence and an underlying obsessiveness that keeps on giving.

To learn more about Tim Deverell and his work, he is interviewed by Y.M. Whelen in Numéro Cinq. This article also shows some of the pictures in the exhibition.